#Kylia's Fic Ideas

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

The first idea for a Worm fanfic that I had, before I even started reading Worm (remember, my entry into Worm was reading about Worm and the controversy about Amy in Ward and yada yada), but while I was reading Worm Fanfic, was an Amy Dallon Peggy Sue fic, but one a bit different from the small handful that I'd found and that hadn't lasted long.

Namely, I wanted one where after the end of Worm (i.e. after restoring Vicky's body and mind, or at least as much as she could, unwretching her, etc) Amy actually does leave Vicky alone, apart from a handful of times where they might accidentally end up in the same space during hero crises in the years after Gold Morning, etc. Eventually Amy moves extra far away from Vicky to reduce those chances.

The actual story opens with Amy on the eve of her 30th birthday. She's had a metric ton of Therapy, though she's hardly some perfectly functional person. She heals for a living, but to satisfy Shaper she has a whole greenhouse of modified plants and she only heals like 2-3 hours a day, barring emergencies. (Also, it's easier to do a task you hate - like healing - if you're getting paid a substantive wage for it, lbr). Anyway, Amy knows Vicky has ever right to not forgive her, given the mind influence and the rape (remember, hadn't read Worm at this point when the idea formed in my mind) and the wretching and stuff, but she can't help but want for her and Vicky to be able to be sisters again. She just doesn't act on that.

And then like, she opens an envelope as she walks into her home and it's an old picture from an old newspaper of Vicky and Amy as Glory Girl and Panacea from some publicity thing and she expresses some wish about if she could do it all again...

And then the next day, wakes up in her younger body, in her room at the Dallon house, back in 2011... the day after the Bank (i.e. the day the Undersiders face Bakuda at the storage place). Obviously at first it's a dream or a nightmare to her, etc etc, she's conflicted when she realizes it's real because now she can be sisters with Vicky again and make sure she never hurts her like she did but she still carries around all the guilt about what she did and feels like she believes she doesn't deserve to have that relationship with past Vicky (I have this whole vision of an early scene from Vicky's POV where she hears Amy going 'no, no, no, no' in her room - which is Amy realizing this isn't a dream and she's freaking out - and then Vicky, worried for Amy bursts in, breaking the door, Aura going wild and Amy feels fear (because the few times she and Vicky interacted after she dewretched her had Amy feeling fear from Vicky's aura) and Vicky realizes Amy is afraid of her, which of course makes Vicky wonder wtf is going on.

Anyway, cue Amy having to try and help save the world and prevent some of the shit that happens to Brockton Bay while only knowing some of what happened, so her ability to make things go better is limited. And wanting to maybe not have as many people die when they beat Scion this time and also maybe Taylor doesn't die, etc. Of course once she starts changing stuff unintended consequences, etc, etc.

And like, key to this fic would be all the guilt Amy carries around about raping Vicky.

And while I knew that the 'Amy raped Vicky' reading of the story was controversial and seen as a retcon by some, I wanted to work with it for this specific fic because it seemed like it would allow some really cool pathos and angst and dramatic reveals and stuff.

But having read 15.x now, I sit here and like - I cannot for the life of me see how to construct a chronicle of events using what we know of what happened where Amy's rape of Vicky actually works and makes sense and feels like something the character actually does.

15.x just... no. There's nothing there to work with.

Which kind of kills the entire idea as I conceived of it, since a key scene I had in mind did involve Amy trying to explain what happened to past Vicky - not giving excuses at all, just laying out what happened to get from point A (OG Amy as of the start of Worm) to point B (The girl who raped her sister)

(I have this vision in mind where Vicky is interrogating Amy trying to figure out what is going on with her [including an accusation of Amy being a stranger], eventually Amy mentions the 'I'm from the future' but Vicky's like 'why are you afraid of me and won't let me hug you and stuff' and Amy's like 'future you hates me for good reason' Vicky demands to know why, Amy, in a fit of high emotion and guilt and so forth screams 'I RAPED YOU!' and after bluescreening for a moment Vicky goes 'wait, so future me hates you because some sick, twisted Master controlled you and forced you to-' because of course Vicky of that point in time can't conceive of Amy ever doing that to her of her own free will and Amy is like 'No, no, you don't get to do that, I did that to myself too much in the past, but it's not true, as much as I might wish it was' or something)

But like, having read 15.x I try to imagine that scene now, Amy explaining the train of events from Bonesaw to Wretching and... I just can't quite figure out how it works.

I mean, if I ever write this and get that far, I can probably try to construct something (if I do write this, it won't be the first Wormfic I write) but like, when the idea first came to me, I knew that there was enough ambiguity in the text that large swaths of the readership genuinely didn't walk away from Worm thinking an actual physical sexual rape happened, but I figured there was something to work with, and there just really isn't.

[kyliafanfiction]

Every now and then, I get tempted by the idea of writing a fic where Amy stays being raised by Marquis, and Vicky is a single child, and someday the two of them end up meeting, superhero daughter of the superhero and supervillain daughter of the supervillain and get together and have a fun drama story around that, but like...

It's not really Amy at that point. Amelia Lavere in this story, even if she has the same powers as canon Amy, isn't... Amy. There'd probably be some personality similarities, yes, but she'd be unrecognizable. Vicky would be different too, though probably still recognizeable.

(Though god knows what having Carol's full attention might do to Vicky. Nothing good, I imagine)

It's an interesting concept for a story more broadly, but like... not really as an Amy/Victoria story, you know? I mean, if you're gonna write Amy/Victoria, Write Amy/Victoria, right?

Like, I'm sure I could tell an interesting story as a Worm fanfic with that, but I mean... what would the point of it?

[miniaturesketches]

Skyeward Fic Recs

Here's a new list including both old and recent works! I'm always on the hunt for beautifully written fics with great plots and compelling characterization - or you know, just enjoyable and quick fixes, that too - so this list will be updated from time to time. (Note: some fics are abandoned or incomplete.)

The Head & The Heart series by Poetgirl925 is my all-time favorite long fic, featuring a non-HYDRA Agent Ward who ends up planning and working on operations with Skye at the Triskelion. It's the lesser-known sister of the famous Under Your Skin fic by the same author.

the death of peace of mind by hellfxres involves a Hellfire! Ward working as a firefighter. That is, until Agent Daisy Johnson shows up at his station. I haven't finished reading this, but the premise is so interesting that it's on my list.

There is Nothing Special About Grant Ward by NezumiPi is one of my only two bookmarks. That's how good it is - a complex and absorbing exploration of Grant Ward's childhood as the son of a mob boss, his abusive relationship with Garrett, and his subsequent crimes. In custody at the Playground, Ward slowly is allowed to participate in operations again. (Note: this is not for the apologists and while there are interactions between Skye and Ward, they are not romantic in nature.)

You Know You're My Saving Grace by GreenEyedStone is historical fiction set in WW2. Unapologetically Skyeward, it follows the life of Skye, the daughter of the United States Air Force Major Phil Coulson, as she gets married to the soldier Grant Ward and has a child. She works on the frontlines in Europe as a journalist. (I'll admit I'm biased as I beta'd some of it, but I think this fic is criminally underrated.)

How to Keep Your Distance, Unsuccessfully by miniaturesketches, aka me, is an old two-shot. Set in Season 4, Daisy Johnson is on the run as a wanted vigilante, hunting down the Watchdogs. When she's severely injured, there's only one person she can call - Grant Ward, her old partner at S.H.I.E.L.D. (Note: "Ward Is Not HYDRA" fic.)

Four Bullets and A Dirty Smile by thefrenchmistake is one of the most popular Skyeward fics of the early 2020s. Not S.H.I.E.L.D-friendly, it's a classic Grant Ward redemption story. But my personal favorite from this author is the oneshot Maybe in One of Those, We Can Win It All, involving the multiple tragic universes in which Skye and Ward meet. So much angst.

I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day by go_astray_with_me, who is the queen of fun-to-read Skyeward. I'm always excited to read her oneshots (and PWP) when they turn up on the Skye/Grant Ward tag. This one is pretty much as the title says.

The Fine Dimensional Line by Kylia has one of the most exciting plots I've read. Grant Ward and Kara Palamas, desperate to escape HYDRA! Skye, take a gamble on one of Fitz's mad ideas - and end up in an alternate world, one where the fine line between loyalty and treachery, love and hate, worked out completely differently.

Real or Not by DrawntoDarkness is a classic oneshot. After being tortured, Skye has trouble differentiating truth from her implanted memories. She spends a day with each member of the team.

The Persistence of Memory by Eienvine is a "Ward goes through T.A.H.I.T.I." fic. James Shaughnessy is a respectable but average person living a respectable but average life . . . except for the dreams. Except for the scars on his body that he can't explain. Except for Daisy, the beautiful girl who comes to his restaurant sometimes and looks at him like she knows him.

The White Silence by starshine is a beautifully written oneshot. After they crash in the Canadian mountains, Ward must get an injured Skye to Providence. The fact that he is an enemy of SHIELD is of little importance in the face of hypothermia threatening to set in.

A Spy Like Me by colormeblue. After the Battle of New York, Grant Ward decides that he no longer wants Hydra to win its war with SHIELD and becomes a triple agent. Nick Fury gives him orders to work with Coulson's team in order to get valuable intelligence on Hydra but Grant finds his triple status and working with a team quite difficult.

Shades of Grey by imadetheline is another slowburn, Grant Ward redemption fic (unfortunately, abandoned). It was one of the first SW fics I read and I still have fond memories of it!

More coming soon!

[hottakehoulihan]

Ring-Maker

Characters behave recognizably canonically: Yes, sufficiently. Not abandoned incomplete: Complete. Engaging (Funny/cool/thoughtful/feels): Cool Do I recommend it: Esp if you're into LOTR Curbstomp, Cuddles, Crack, Cyoot, Concept: Concept

Premise: Silmarillion sequel+crossover. Taylor's trauma awoke in her ancient links; she's actually the maker of the rings of power reborn. She makes the three rings and uses them--of course--to prevent Lung from killing some kids. Things escalate from there.

Someone posted a recc for this fic to Kylia because it had an unusual portrayal of Amy and I added it to my bookmarks and then, on the plane weeks ago I read it. It's lengthy--at ~150 chapters--and I don't recall being annoyed by bad characterization or spelling.

That said, take what I write here with a grain of salt because

I'm sick rn and have been for a few days so my head is clay.

I waited too long to post this and so my memory isn't fresh.

I never managed to read-and-understand the whole Silmarillion.

Also, this is a story with redemption in it. If you hate the idea of having characters redeemed, you're warned.

(One part of my embers of rage at Victoria "Cop" Dallon as a protag in Ward is her deciding that those former villain capes who didn't perform contrition well enough deserved to be ostracized and marginalized. 'People don't change' thinks this ostensible friend to...literally her whole team of counterexamples. 9_9)

So, spoilers-territory upcoming:

Taylor didn't trigger with a shard. When Sauron ("The Loathed one" I think it is) was destroyed, this teenage girl is where that vestige ended up. Taylor doesn't get this all at once, though. She just knows she can make common metals into mithril, and she can make rings. She's made the three. She'll find them homes, and she'll make more. She'll make all twent--nope. Nope. Not gonna make that 20th. Scary and don't wanna do that don't wanna be that kind of person. Nineteen is fine.

Obvious spoiler one: She's gonna make the 20th eventually.

She'll go by Annatar when she joins the Wards...but she's a bit high-tier. Still, they're her friends.

Sophia? Oh she could crush and destroy Sophia. The PRT wants Annatar enough they'd crush Sophia even if Piggot and Armsmaster weren't already inclined to do so now that they've seen the unvarnished truth of the school incidents. ...but no, Taylor decides (well, she's got a thousands-years-old vestige personality that is only mostly subsumed in her head; it grants perspective) that this is a *child* and that children...fuck up. Sophia wants to be a hero, but she's fucked up.

Taylor decides to redeem Sophia. And Sophia decides she wants to be redeemed. Eventually, Emma, Taylor (who backslides a bit into MasterMachiavellian for a bit, and Sapphia (tastefully) bravely stands up to her at cost to herself) and...

And Cauldron's decided to hitch their wagon to hers. And some of the shards, upon talking to her, do the same.

And it's not at all a curbstomp, even so.

I had a good time. I don't think I'll be rereading it, but it was well done and I'm under the impression I've seen it recommended multiple times in multiple places, so I've this idea that it's a 'classic' of sorts in the Wormfic circles.

...I should maybe attempt to determine what the "classics" are in the minds of the wormfic-reading community. Excluding HP stuff and crack, especially (though I do love crackfic.) My mind leaps to Tabloid and...and suddenly I'm realizing how many of my favorites are crackfic or niche. Hmm.

I'll be looking up other works by the author eventually.

Anyway, tl;dr: Ring-Maker was a pleasant and interesting read, and I felt like it not only did a decent job of exploring the concept, portraying the characters, and telling an interesting story, it also gave me a window into some of the niche weirdness of the LOTR world. Also, I never thought I'd see a serious tasteful attempt at Taylor/Sophia and I don't think I could do it.

Also, Amy doesn't get much screen time, but she's a gruff unapologetic terrifying ass-kicker in the story.

[kyliafanfiction-archive]

P, Q, Z

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

*thinks of several she’s already come up with*

Okay, here’s a new one: Steampunk Buffyverse. So like, Wesley is using steampunk gadgets and Fred is some brilliant edges of science inventor. Buffy gets to use some kind of crazy steampunk stake launcher thing on her arm, and Jenny is using Charles Babbage-esque Difference engines. 

And Willow is an inventor who combines steampunk tech with magic, while Tara is the obligatory anti-tech witch, more concerned with natural balance (and that is a clash for Willow and Tara that they have to work with).

Wolfram and Hart wouldn’t even need to change a bit for it to work. 

So basically, the regular buffyverse - all the characters are still who they are - but Steampunk. And take the AU from there or somethink.

Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why.

Outright abandoned? Fire Emblem. For one, the game moved onto to consoles I didn’t have - I played the GBA Fire Emblem 7 and Fire Emblem 8, but while my friend who I actually got into the series had a Gamecube and eventually Wii, so he kept up with the series, I never did. Besides, no FE game has ever been as fun as 7 for me (I played nine and ten - parts of them - on said friend’s consoles). 

Plus, well, with how awful my fic in that fandom is, I kinda don’t like to be reminded of it. Or associated with it. Apparently I actually got held up on livejournal (I only found this out years later) in some corners as a standard for bad writing - which I think I could make a very good case for being absurd, since there were much worse writers than I ever was in the same subgrene, But whatever.

Plus, there’s this very specific kind of fic in the FE fandom - exclusive to only FE7 fandom (more or less) - that is mostly what I want and not only is it very rare, but most examples of it are crap. I mean, most fanfic is “crap” to any given person, but this subgenre has a higher rate of it than most, IMO. Which really sucks.

And… I was also kind of a jackass, even more than I am now, to several people in the fandom on FFN. And I engaged in some pretty heavy char bashing in my fics and in the fandom spaces I was in, whereas these days I find char bashing in fic to be bad writing and char bashing in fandom spaces usually just pathetic.

Basically, I grew up as a writer, as a fan and as a person and so I’m not in the fandom.

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)

Very helpful :P

Well, loosely related to the above issue - self insert fics are not actually a bad notion, per se. I mean, one of the classic works we’re always stuck reading in English class (Dante’s Inferno) is a self-insert, 

Self-inserts in of themselves are not bad. If one actually wrote onself honestly and accurately. The problem is that people often write these over the top idealized versions of themselves in the self-insert, which as a wish fulfilment self-indulgent sort of thing is fine, but is bad writing, more or less. 

But equally, far from every OC is a self-insert. Yes, we as writers often put something of ourselves into our characters - unavoidable - but fandom as a whole often simple accuses an OC of being a self-insert sue/stu and then just dismisses the whole thing.

The OC in the fic might not be a self-insert, and even if it is, that doesn’t mean the fic is automatically bad writing - though it often can be.

Fandom Ask Meme

[kyliafanfiction]

Fic Idea: Go full hog with Amy's self-loathing, and a much older, decade or more post-Ward Amy goes back in time to torture and then kill her younger self (even before said Younger self did anything wrong). Just embrace the terrible.

There's a disturbing number of fanfic writers (read: any) who seem to think it's totally okay to kill Amy before even the Bank, before 11h, before 15.x (I'm not even sure killing Amy is okay post even a rape interpretation of 15.x, but I'm also broadly against the death penalty in almost every context, so YMMV) so why not write a fic that embraces it and have Amy believe that?

ADMITTEDLY, If I actually wrote this then Future Amy wouldn't actually succeed at killing past Amy before past Vicky saved her and Future Amy is all like 'do you know what she's going to do, she's going to rape you!' or something like that and then there'd be dealing with the fallout, etc.

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

 Social interaction: not where my talents lay.

[kyliafanfiction]

Word Count 12-14-23

1782 Words.

Not that they matter because...

I wrote over 10,000 words for this godforesaken oneshot that became a twoshot and then as I hit the end of part 1...

The whole damn twoshot is just fatally flawed. I was definitely seeing the problems for the back half of part 1, but still. There's no way to actually like... make the story work. Make the resolution believable. Or even like, coherent.

Fuck.

Fuck my life.

Well, it's written, it's there, maybe I come back for an attempt 2 in the future for a rewrite, the premise is *cool* but, probably unsalvageable without investing a whole lot more into reworking the entire structure of the bit.

Fuuuuck.

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

“A moderate risk for a chance to save hundreds, thousands, even millions of lives,” Armstrong said. “How many lives do we lose because of the monsters we set free?”  West retorted.  “Those criminals were put there for a reason.” “At first,” Armstrong said.  “But the rationale for indefinite detention has been getting weaker, and the number of capes going in has been increasing.  I-” “It’s not going to happen, Armstrong,” West cut him off. Armstrong deflated a little, settling back in his chair.

Poor Armstrong. Cursed to be the sane man in the room.

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

I slowly dropped to my knees, then folded my hands behind my head.

Granted, this came out before The Blacklist, but it does give me major opening scene to the Blacklist vibes.

[kyliafanfiction]

For me, there’s several ways to look at character sexuality and gender identity.

There’s what is clearly textually stated, what is clearly textually implied (which I generally avoid getting into), what I personally want/wish (usually but not always for shipping purposes, as shipping drives my fannish interest generally) and what would make for a more interesting story.

That last one can be applied to canon - i.e. I think the show is more interesting if we read canonically cishet character A as actually closeted/unrealizing bi/gay/trans/ace/whatever (though I don’t personally have one of these) or the story would be more interesting if the character was out one of those things.

But it can also be applied to fanfic - i.e. I think the story of this fanfic is more interesting, or I have a premise that requires, changing the canon sexualities or even what I think the implied sexuality is.

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

This isn't really working either. I think I just need to give up on the idea of liveblogging and just fucking read Worm and get it done. I may still make some posts about thoughts as I go, but...

Ah well.

The way I was doing the Live Reactions posts, I think, is making this take too long, so for Arc 5, I'm gonna try a slightly different Format.

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Okay, man. I'm fucking done. Started this shit on June 16th, been at it ever since.

Worm has eaten up an insane amount of my time and brain since I started reading it. And before. And given all the fic ideas I have, it will keep doing so.

But I'm done reading it. Thank fucking god.

I enjoyed it, I like it, I did, but... it was fucking exhausting.

Over the next few days, you're gonna see a few retrospective posts from me kind of wrapping up everything I read for my own interest and sanity, and then I'll take a long break for a while to write fic and other stuff.

Sometime next summer, I'll probably start up Pact, and we'll give it the old college try. I may read it slower, unless it really nabs me, we'll see. If I don't like Pact then I'll probably just give up on reading anymore WB stuff. If I do, then I'll see where I go from there.

Either way, this is Kylia, finally fucking done reading Worm.

Always remember:

Tattaletale is a little bitch

Carol is a Shitty Mom

Bonesaw Needs To Die In A Goddamn Fire

Slaughterhouse 9 is Boring

[kyliafanfiction]

Kylia!!!! Thank you so much for sending me an ask, I am literally getting so excited just reading it - you have no idea what you've done to me!!! But I am also so torn because I don't know if I should respond or finish my little mini gifset first, BUT I did want to talk time and write you a little message on here.

I am always in so much awe of you always posting your word counts for the day. I think it's so amazing you can write so much and every once in a while I always go back and read some of your fanfics (I just love Dead Man Walking and Exit Strategy). I like to read them on my kindle and yes, I have the Wesley/Lilah bits bookmarked ;) I swear I am too obsessed for my own good. I loved so much of what you had to say in Dead Man Walking, too.

Anyway, I hope you have such a good evening and, as someone who owns a bookstore (which is also literally so cool) do you have any books you would recommend?

^^ Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad you love my fics. :D No rush on my ask, whenever you get the time.

As for books to recommend, I'm happy to offer some thoughts, but I was wondering if you could narrow down a bit more what you like to read? Going off the fact that you ship Weslah and (I think?) BatCat, you have a preference for enemies to lovers type stories, it sounds like, or otherwise stories that revolve around characters who start in some degree of opposition with eachother getting together?

Going from that, and bearing in mind that I can't read every book in existence :sweat_smile: I'd say the first thing that springs to mind is the Cruel Prince, first book of a series. I haven't read it, but I have heard good things, and it has that sort of enemies to lovers vibe, as I understand it.

I don't actually gravitate that much to Enemies to Lovers in actual novels, weirdly enough, though it's not a turn-off, it's just not what I tend to seek.

But I presume you aren't only into enemies to lovers, so I could give you some better recs with some more narrowing down

(These are questions I always ask customers when they ask for recommendations, fwiw ^^)

[kyliafanfiction]

I’m half-tempted to just... go and make a new main blog again or something, but it feels like too much work but damn if this one isn’t a mess and I kind of feel like having something more coherent and organized. But equally, I don’t actually have the energy for it.

Like, sure I want to write metas again, but I don’t really have the time. And I don’t really have much reach, so :shrug: And honestly between my two blogs I’ve said all my opinions about the fandoms I’m actually, really in. They change sometimes, somewhat, but they’re still broadly the same across time and space really, in most cases. 

But god knows it’s incoherent spread out like this, and this blog does have a whole ton of nonsense clogging it up.

Plus, while metas were fun to write, it’s more fun to write fic. I don’t write as much as I’d like, and like - remember when the whole point of this blog (of me having a tumblr at all) was to talk about my fics? 

Because I really don’t. I’ve made a few half-hearted attempts to go around and save all my metas @kylia-metas and have a sideblog dedicated to my fic that I’ve since deleted, but I just never have the energy or remember to sustain the idea. 

But part of me does feel like starting... maybe not fresh exactly but at least without all the clutter. But is there really any reason to?

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Actually, I read a fic where instead of a proper Shard taylor gets Krombopulus Michael (an interstellar assassin from Rick and Morty) as a voice in her head and thus all his assassination knowledge, etc.

A fic where Taylor gets Garak and all his spy knowledge and stuff (man is a man of many skills) and him as a voice in her head would be interesting.

Plus, then Taylor could say she's 'Plain and Simple Taylor' just as Garak said he was 'a Plain and Simple Tailor', which tickles my fancy quite a bit.

“Screw you!  Driving me out into the cold, fucking with us without a fair fight?  Go die in a fire!” “I’ve been in a lot of fights,” I commented, “Rare to have one that’s actually fair.  Most are pretty brutally one sided.“

You know, I think Garak from DS9 would get along with Taylor.

Garak : When the Klingons attacked the station, Gul Dukat and I were fighting side by side. At one point, he turned his back to me, and I must admit that for a moment, he made a very tempting target. Odo : You'd shoot a man in the back? Garak : Well, it's the safest way, isn't it?